BRUSSELS — FIFPRO Europe and European Leagues have released a joint statement stating their intentions to file a complaint with the European Commission against FIFA over the match calendar.
“The international match calendar is now beyond saturation and has become unsustainable for national leagues and a risk for the health of players. FIFA's decisions over the last years have repeatedly favoured its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players,” read the joint statement posted on X.
Due to the ever-changing dynamic world of football, the new UEFA Champions League format and the new FIFA Club World Cup will heavily affect all players involved. Besides the domestic duties, the number of matches in the new UCL format will increase from 125 to 189. Each team will play a minimum of eight games instead of six and a maximum of 17.
“Legal action is now the only responsible step for European leagues and player unions to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from FIFA's unilateral decisions. The complaint will explain that FIFA's conduct infringes EU competition law and notably constitutes an abuse of dominance,” the statement further added.
To add to that the usual list of participants at the FIFA Club World Cup has also increased adding to the team’s already congested fixture list. Adding international duties to the current calendar puts the players at serious risk with the number of ACL injuries already having seen an increase in both the men’s and women’s game during the 2023-24 season.
“FIFA holds a dual role as both the global regulator of football and a competition organiser. This creates a conflict of interest, which, consistent with the recent case law of the EU Courts, requires FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a way that is transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate. FIFA's conduct in respect of the international match calendar falls well short of these requirements,” concluded the statement.